Acuitas Investments LLC Increases Stake in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR)

Acuitas Investments LLC grew its position in Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 911,204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 189,744 shares during the period. Acuitas Investments LLC’s holdings in Nektar Therapeutics were worth $515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in NKTR. Mackenzie Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Nektar Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Nektar Therapeutics by 1,993.9% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 77,978 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 74,254 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Nektar Therapeutics by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 101,687 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 23,829 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 300.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 229,841 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,000 after acquiring an additional 172,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CM Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Nektar Therapeutics by 6.7% in the third quarter. CM Management LLC now owns 800,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 50,000 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.88% of the company’s stock.

Nektar Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NKTR stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $1.36. 157,308 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,126,252. The firm has a market cap of $249.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.90 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $0.70. Nektar Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $0.41 and a 52 week high of $1.75.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 4th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by ($0.01). Nektar Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 96.80% and a negative net margin of 306.31%. The company had revenue of $23.89 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.09 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.32) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nektar Therapeutics will post -0.93 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Nektar Therapeutics from $0.50 to $1.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Friday, January 26th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Nektar Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.50.

Nektar Therapeutics Company Profile

Nektar Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing medicines in the field of immunotherapy in the United States and internationally. The company is developing rezpegaldesleukin, a cytokine Treg stimulant that is in phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and ulcerative colitis, as well as phase 2b clinical trial to treat atopic dermatitis and psoriasis; and NKTR-255, an IL-15 receptor agonist, which is in phase 1 clinical trial to boost the immune system's natural ability to fight cancer.